In a corner of Xiyang City, several horsemen came to a courtyard and stopped, they threw whips and dismounted to the gate and knocked the knocker, and after a while, the gate opened slightly, and a servant poked his head out and asked what was the matter.

"I'm waiting for Xiangzhou to come over to repay Zhang Langjun, please pass it on." A middle-aged man said that he was well-dressed and looked like a shopkeeper doing business, and several people around him were sturdy and looked like escorts.

The servant's face was relieved when he heard that he had come to repay the money, but then he explained: "The master of my family is deceased, and now only the old master and mother are in the house. ”

"Zhang Langjun is dead? What's going on? The middle-aged man was shocked when he heard this, and when he saw the other party's lonely face, he arched his hand to say condolences and asked to see the old mother of the Zhang family to hand over the money.

The middle-aged man saw the old man and introduced himself as a trader, and his surname was Qi, and after some comfort, he turned to the topic and said that he was caught by thieves in Bazhou at the beginning of this year, and he escaped from despair, and it was Zhang An and Zhang Langjun who borrowed money to save the emergency and turned around.

As the so-called grace of dripping water, when the spring reciprocates, I thought of returning to Xiangzhou, and then prepared a heavy gift to thank him, but I didn't expect that there was something at home, and it was delayed until now, and I was able to make the trip, but I came to thank him, but it turned out to be a step late.

Zhang An's widowed mother's surname is Liu, so she is known as Zhang Liu's, she heard this Qi shopkeeper comforted and bowed her head and wept, Zhang Liu's middle-aged widow worked hard to pull his only son Zhang An into a parent, but he never thought that the white-haired person sent the black-haired person to the black-haired person, and he didn't know how sad he was.

The shopkeeper of Qi ordered someone to bring a package and handed it to Zhang Liu, saying that there was money in it, and there were several pieces of broken silver, and some jewelry, Zhang Liu's said that he would not take anything, and the shopkeeper of Qi saw this and persuaded: "Qi's mother told the grace of dripping water to repay the spring, although Zhang Lang is no longer there, but in any case, please ask the old man to complete." ”

Seeing that the other party accepted it, the shopkeeper sighed: "It's a pity that Zhang Lang died young, and I heard him mention that he was looking forward to adding a grandson to the old man's family when he was newly married, but alas. Please also ask the elderly to mourn, please mourn the surviving. ”

Zhang Liu's conversation with the shopkeeper Qi was calm, but as soon as he heard the other party mention the 'surviving person', his face changed, and he scolded loudly, and the shopkeeper Qi saw this and hurriedly asked what happened to this Zhang An's widow, which made the old man angry, could it be unfilial?

Zhang Liu angrily said the reason: his son Zhang An took his newly married wife Zhang Li back to his mother's house in Hengzhou in April, and when he went out, he did not expect that a few days later, the state government came to report that Zhang An had encountered a thief and lost his life, and his daughter-in-law Zhang Li was nowhere to be found.

This news crushed her like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and she fainted on the spot, thanks to the servant calling the doctor for timely treatment, she woke up leisurely, and after a few days of crying at home, she was surprised to see her daughter-in-law come back, and the two of them also hugged their heads and cried.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went to the state government to beat drums and sound grievances, begging the king to return justice, but the thief's nest has not been found. Zhang Liu originally thought that his daughter-in-law was tortured and escaped by luck, and then the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law could only rely on each other, but they did not expect that there was no other inside story: the state government found blood on a servant's clothes, saying that it was this Zhang Li who murdered Zhang An.

It turned out that it was this Li family who colluded with the thief, first killed her husband and the servant, and then ran back to try to seek the Zhang family's property, Zhang Liu said that it was a loss to have a loyal servant to leave clues, otherwise he would be succeeded by this vicious daughter-in-law.

"My Zhang family treats her well, I never thought that she was a femme fatale!" Zhang Liu was so angry that he couldn't help but pat the desk, "When the woman came back, fortunately, Ah Wu reminded her that she didn't let her keep the family's money, otherwise she would have run away a long time ago!" ”

Shopkeeper Qi has been listening silently to Zhang Liu's venting of his resentment, waiting to hear her mention the name 'Ah Wu', and then his eyes flashed, he coughed lightly to persuade the other party to dissipate his anger, and asked, Is this Ah Wu the Liang housekeeper? At the beginning of the year, he heard Zhang An say that he came to Xiyang as a guest, and if he was not there, he could find Steward Liang.

Zhang Liu said that this Ah Wu is her younger brother, because she lost her husband in her early years and came to Zhang's house to help with things and helped a lot, her orphan and widow run the family business and inevitably be bullied.

The shopkeeper Qi nodded when he heard this, he said with the experience of walking the rivers and lakes for many years, he was afraid that there would be thieves to report the news, and the attack at the beginning of the year was to the domestic servants to collude with the thieves to set up an ambush in the middle of the road in advance, but fortunately, there were loyal servants who escaped with their lives.

"I don't know if the domestic servant who left the clue has any relatives. Qi has always attached great importance to this loyal servant of the Lord, and he also wants to send some money and things to his family to express his heart. ”

Zhang Liu said that the servant had no relatives and no reason to be an orphan taken in by his husband in his early years, and it was quite pitiful to follow the martyrdom of the lord Lang this time.

"Qi was saved that day and also lost to a left-handed servant in your mansion, I don't know where he is now?"

"Left-handed, he is Zhang Liu who left blood letters."

Shopkeeper Qi and Zhang Liu talked for a while and then left, Zhang Liu looked at the package and sighed, and a person came to her behind the screen: "Sister." ”

"Look at it, and it says that you have to guard against blackmail. Look at it," Zhang Liu opened the package, and inside was a few heavy pieces of money, a few broken silver wrapped in a small cloth, and jewelry.

"Sister. Isn't the younger brother thinking about the family, and the heart of guarding against others is indispensable. "The man accompanied the smiling face, this person was thin and white-faced, had long narrow eyes, and spoke in a shrill voice, it was Zhang Liu's younger brother Liu Qing, who was known as Liu Wu because he was the fifth in the family, he looked at the contents of the package and asked; Ah Lang is really kind to the shopkeeper Qi? ”

Zhang Liu said that she didn't know if there was such a thing, but her son made a lot of friends on weekdays, and he didn't come back to talk about everything, and besides, someone would send things to the door inexplicably.

Liu Qing talked to Zhang Liu for a while, and then mentioned Zhang Li, who was locked up in the state prison, and as soon as he said it, Zhang Liu looked displeased. Liu Qing said with a smile on his face, now that Yuwen makes Jun judge the case like a god, it is better to go to the state government to beat the drum and ask him to close the case, so as to comfort Zhang An's spirit in the sky.

"Sister, if this femme fatale woman lives for one more day, then Ah Lang's soul will have to survive for one more day, and the evidence of her crimes is conclusive, as long as she can explain to Yuwen Envoy, she will definitely be able to judge in court."

When it comes to her dead son Zhang Liu's tears are hazy, she easily pulls the eldest son to ask a matchmaker to marry a daughter-in-law, waiting to hold her grandson to renew the incense for the Zhang family, she never wanted to marry a poisonous woman, and now that her son is gone, the Zhang family has also cut off the incense, and she doesn't know how to explain to her dead husband.

While the two were talking, a servant came in and took the tea away. Liu Qing saw that he gave him a look, so he said goodbye to Zhang Liu, followed the man out, and when he came to a secluded place outside the house, he asked, "How is it, where have these people gone?" ”

"They rode out of the north gate and went all the way north."

"Well, that's an out-of-towner." Liu San muttered to himself, and after a moment of silence, he said: "Prepare one or two, tomorrow the old housewife will go to the state government to beat the drum!" (To be continued.) )